Ice tray



'Sept. 12, 1941.

J. H. MINER ICE TRAY Filed Jan. 18, 1959 Patented Sept. 2, 1941 ICE TRA J ames H; Miner, Meridian, Missr Application January 18, 1939 S'erial-No.'251;619-

7Claims.- (01. 62-1085) inposition'ready to operate the gridsectionsor The invention relates to icetrayjorganizations for refrigerators.

One object is to provide for. the dislocation of grid or divider sections for cracking the ice from its frozen connection without placing undue strain on the tray member, which therefore may be of'thin metal, steel, or aluminum.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 is a side view of the tray organization;

Fig. 2 is a plan view, with the operatinglever shown in dot and dash lines.

Fig. 3 is atransverse central sectional view.

The tray proper shown at I is of the conventional elongated form with its side and end walls preferably inclining outwardly and upwardly.

The grid or divider, which provides in combination with the tray walls ice cube compartments, is formed in two sections, one at each end of the tray, the meeting ends of the sections being at a zone intermediate the length of the tray. These grid sections, marked generally 2 and 2a, are each made up of a central partition member or bar marked respectively 3, 3a extending lengthwise of the tray and at about midway of its width. These bars are in the form of metal strips set up on edge. Each has affixed thereto the cross fins 4 reaching to the side walls of the tray, as in common practice.

In moving these sections of the grid relative to the tray for breaking the ice away from the tray and from between the fins, I aim to accomplish the desired end without exerting strain upon the tray itself, which therefore may be of thin metal.

For this purpose I provide means whereby the members of the grid may be drawn towards each other. At the center of the tray, and between the grid sections, a resilient partition 5 is arranged across the tray. This may consist of rubber afiixed in any suitable manner to the tray, with a central metal strip 5a and the rubber attached to either side of said central upright cross strip, and acting to separate it into two compartments, and provide a watertight wall between said compartments, so that when frozen there will be one body of ice on one side of the yieldable division wall and another body of ice on the other side of said wall. These bodies of ice will be divided into cubes by the grids or dividers.

Each grid at, or near, its inner end, i. e., the end which contacts with the yielding partition has a projection 1 extending above the water line. A lever B has an opening 9 adapted to receive the said projections when the lever is placed draw them towards each other.

The disposition of the projections and the form of thewa'll of the opening is such that when the lever is operated, the wall of the opening in the lever will act as a cam upon the projections, and will 'draw them towards each other, and thereby dislodge the grid-sections relative to their initial positions in'the' tray. These grid sections, therefore; will movetowards each other, this action being permitte'd'by the'yielding of the rubber in the centerjcross partition in the tray. This will b're'ak'the ice away from its connection with the" tray. It will be noticed that the lever does not abut against a fulcrum on any part of the tray, but, on the contrary, it exerts a camming action on the projections of the grids whereby said grids are drawn towards the center of the tray, each grid moving in the opposite direction to the other grid. The lever moves substantially in a horizontal plane. Means may be provided to prevent the outer ends of the grid sections from rising in the tray. This means may consist of any metal flange l0 overlying the outer ends of the grid sections.

The cross partition may be located nearer one end of the tray than the other, and the grid for the portion of the tray having the smaller compartment may be capacitated to hold six cubes, while the grid section at the opposite end of the tray may have a capacity for holding eight cubes. It will result from these relative proportions of the grid sections that when the hand lever is first operated, there will be more resistance offered by the section having eight cubes than will be offered by the section having the lesser number of cubes, and hence the lever will fulcrum at the outset on the pin connected with the larger grid section, and the smaller grid section will move first to dislocate the ice cubes contained therein from the tray, and after this section has been fully operated, then its pin will act as a fulcrum for the application of power of the lever to the larger section, which thereupon will move lengthwise of the tray to effect the cracking of the ice away therefrom.

The partition is watertight in the sense that it excludes water from a portion of the space within the tray which otherwise would be occupied by the ice. By so excluding the water from this space, the result is that no ice forms therein, but its place is taken by a resilient member which will enable the grid sections to be moved for dislocating the ice. This cross partition is preferably formed by a metallic plate 50. which carries the rubber element, the plate being welded or otherwise suitably secured to the tray.

The tray may have yielding side walls.

I may elect to use a thin shelled or hollow casing filled with rubber for resiliency without departing from the spirit of my invention.

It may be said that the two projections I, one on each grid section, act mutually as fulcrum means for the operating lever, and also as the means whereby the movement of the lever is imparted to the said grid sections.

I claim:

1. An ice tray organization for refrigerators comprising a tray, a yielding partition extending across the same and dividing the tray into two compartments, a grid section in each compartment bearing at its inner end on the yielding partition, and operating means for drawing the grid sections against said yielding partition for dislocating the ice, said partition serving as a watertight separator between said compartments.

2. An ice tray organization according to claim 1 in which said operating means consists of a lever engaging projections at the adjacent ends of the grid sections for stressing them simultaneously towards the center of the tray, said lever fulcruming on said projections.

13. An ice tray organization according to claim 1 in which the grid section in one compartment of the tray is smaller than that in the other compartment of the tray, so that by applying power by means of the operating means equally to the tray sections simultaneously, the smaller section will be the first to respond and move relatively to the tray, after which, by a continued movement of the lever, the larger grid section will move.

, ward from each side, and grid sections engaging said yielding material, and means for operating said sections.

6. A tray, a metal cross division separating the tray into two compartments and having its outer ends welded to the sides of the tray, and grid sections with means for moving said grid sections against the central partition.

7.- An ice tray organization for refrigerators comprising a tray, yielding partition means extending across the tray in spaced apart relation to the. end walls thereof, a pair of grid sections one on each side of the said partition, and means at the adjacent ends of the grid sections independent of the tray, said means operating to draw the grid sections towards each other and away from the end walls of the tray for breaking the bond between the tray and ice cubes therein, substantially as described.

J AMES H. MINER. 

